It should be borne in mind that apart from quotations from the Writings of the Báb, speeches attributed to Him or to anyone else in these pages must not be taken as exact reportage of words spoken at the time. They only convey the sense and purport of what was said on those occasions. Obviously no one was taking notes. It is possible, however, that a few short sentences here and there, which immediately engrave themselves on the mind, are exact utterances, the very words spoken. As the bibliography indicates I have consulted a number of books; but of printed works, the main sources have been _God Passes By_ and Nabíl's Narrative, _The Dawn-Breakers_. I am much indebted to the Bahá'í Publishing Trust, Wilmette, Illinois, for permission to quote from these and other sources, as well as to Cambridge University Press, the Public Record Office, George Allen & Unwin Ltd., A. & C. Black Ltd., Faber & Faber Ltd., William Heinemann Ltd., Methuen & Co. Ltd., and _World Order_, A Bahá'í Magazine. Full acknowledgment is made in the bibliography and notes. I am profoundly grateful to the Hands of the Cause Paul Haney and Abul-Qasim Faizi for reading the manuscript and for their review and advice. As in the past Marion Hofman's generous help has smoothed the path to publication. My indebtedness to her is immense. And without my wife's assistance and support I could not have completed my task. I should also like to thank Miss Dorothy Wigington, Mr. Farhang Afnan and Mr. Rustom Sabit for their care in reading the proofs, and Mr. Horst W. Kolodziej for his excellent reproduction of a number of old documents and photographs. Finally, a word as to the Prologue; this in my view provides a necessary background for the story of the Báb. But should the reader find in it too many unfamiliar facts, he may turn immediately to the first chapter. H. M. BALYUZI _London_ _October 1972_ _A Note on the Construction of Persian Names_ In times past the people of Persia had no surnames, but in many instances they were known by the name of the district, city, town, or even the village from which they came: for example, [_Kh_]urásání, Mázindarání, Ṭihrání, Iṣfahání, and [_Sh_]írází. There were also various honorific prefixes and suffixes by which a person was distinguished. A descendant of the Prophet Muḥammad had (and has) the prefix of 'Siyyid'. At times, 'Mírzá' took the place of 'Siyyid', and at times the two were used together. 'Mírzá' by itself did not denote any particular ancestry, except when placed after a proper name to mark royal descent. The suffix '[_Kh_]án' served at one time as a title, but with passing years, it became merely honorific, even meaningless, and at no time was it a surname.